Knock on Woods                    Return to Home Page    Sean Woods, a former FB and baseball player at McDevitt, created quite a stir during the 2002-03 school year for his zany reports. He is now attending college and wants to get into journalism. Poor kid. He thinks it's cool that Roman had a FB player named Sean Woods.    Sean may be reached at KnockonWoods2@aol.com

Your ad here!      Support Sean Woods,                 or else         $40, can't beat it              Your ad here!      Support Sean Woods,                   or else           $40, can't beat it

JAN. 22
RANDOM THOUGHTS
   First of all, I want to apologize for not keeping up with my reports on the trail over the last month or so. I wish I had a better excuse than the fact that I'm lazy, but I don't. Unfortunately, I doubt I will be able to make up for my lack of reporting anytime soon. If you have been following college basketball this year, you know that the Saint Joe's Hawks are undefeated and are looking to make a run at the National Championship. While they should have no problem winning the Atlantic 10, Coach Martelli feels that he needs another scorer and has asked me to transfer to Hawk Hill. I look forward to helping the Hawks on their quest for a National Championship, but between class and practice, I don't see any time for High School basketball games. I hope I'm not beginning to sound like Magic Johnson or Michael Jordon, but I am 99% sure that I will no longer be able to continue my column, at least for the rest of this season. Although I wish I could continue contributing reports for the site, I am delighted to see that my absence will not leave TedSilary.com devoid of engaging reports from Student Reporters. Special Ed, ZB, Jack, Colin, Dan, TC, Space, and Banks are all doing a terrific job and I look forward to reading more of their work.
    I'm sure I'll be back with more tired attempts to amuse readers soon, but until then, good luck and enjoy the rest of the games this season.
   Finally, the ad space atop this page remains vacant, and consequently, so does my wallet. Because I have no time get a job, I am forced to seek out a new means of income. Here's hoping this attempt is considerably more lucrative. This time I invite you all to join the official Knock on Woods Fan Club! For just $89.99 you will receive all this:
1. An official Knock on Woods Fan Club Membership card. 2. "Knock on Woods UNCUT: What Ted didn't want you to see (smile)" Includes unedited reports, never submitted reports, random thoughts and more. 3. NumNuts' debut album, Comfortably Num: Live at BrewHaha.  4. An autographed 8x10 photo. 5. A monthly newsletter containing information about where and when Sean will be making appearances. 6. Fun stickers. 7. Sean's autobiography, My Prison without Bars: The struggle of having boyish good looks and no fake ID. 8. Special advance access to tickets for games that Sean will be covering. (Note: These are the games that no one at the Daily News wants to see.)
That's right, all that great stuff can be yours for just $89.99 so act now!

DEC. 16
NON-LEAGUE
Sun Valley 97, McDevitt 67
   If you managed to avoid catching the flu recently, but were in attendance for this game, chances are you have it now. That's because tonight's preseason game between Sun Valley and host Bishop McDevitt was absolutely sickening. The Lancers' cold shooting was contagious, as their team shooting percentage was a repulsive 31% from the field. The game showed all the signs of preseason play and was sloppy all-around. Sun Valley, which can hardly be considered a quality team, used a nice mix of players to overcome the Lancers through satisfactory shooting and a firm defense. Leading the charge for Sun Valley was PG Matt Furey, who raged to 24 points but kept his team from getting caught up in the helter-skelter street game. Furey (7-13 inside the arc, 9-20 overall) took advantage of holes in the Lancer defense and scored most of his points on easy lay-ups. C George McKeefe was at home in the defensive low post and prevented McDevitt from establishing any inside game. His offensive game did not come as naturally, though he did contribute 18 points (8-16). Lancer Jr. Greg Stitt, who played shooting guard last year, is still adjusting to his new role as a point guard. The young playmaker led the Lancers with 22 points (8-22) but was not always leading his team in the right direction. Hopefully the amount of errant passes, miscommunication and especially finger-pointing will dwindle dramatically as the regular season draws nearer. McDevitt's attempt to run the floor and exhaust Sun Valley did not work as planned, partly because SV's players were always staying fresh. By keeping the same five players in for almost the entire game, the Lancers only succeeded in wearing themselves down. Their opponent got a lot of support from their bench, who accounted for 19 points and were regularly shifting into the game. The Lancers, however, used their substitutes sparingly and got just 3 points off the bench. Sr. F/C Andrew Crawford (18 points, 5-12) is McDevitt's only low-post threat, but is also very effective beyond the arc. Crawford chipped in with two treys including a halfcourt buzzer-beater to end the first half. Sun Valley held steady leads of between ten and fifteen points throughout the first three quarters. Lancer Forward Joe Swoyer completed an and-1 in the third to cut the deficit to nine points and get McDevitt back into the game. The 4th quarter, however belonged solely to Sun Valley, as they scored a whopping 39 points against the fatigued Lancers. SV's Lionel Kash (18 pts, 8-10) and Dustin Shaffer (17 pts, 5-14) caught fire and combined for 20 points in the quarter. Kash, a lean wingman, saw limited time in the 2nd and 3rd quarters but was well-rested for the fourth, when he made all four shots he took. Schaffer, a thick and aggressive forward, took a lot of abuse from the Krazy Korner for his build and first half struggles, but stayed composed and responded with a solid final quarter in which he scored 11 of his 17 points.
McDevitt's Krazy Korner was entertaining as always. The McDevitt faithful chose SV's Jim Pappas as the victim of their notorious "boo" and kept the disappointed McDevitt fans amused. Their best chant on the night was about McD sophomore gaurd Tom Maha (14 points, 5-14). Maha was the beneficiary of a "He's a Freshman!" cheer last year, and after scoring two consecutive 3's in the 2nd quarter, the Krazy Korner chanted, "He used to be a freshman!"
   And now the moment you've all been waiting for…
   As you probably have noticed, McDevitt's Krazy Korner has served as a mecca of great sports writing on TedSilary.com; much like what Florence has for art, Milan for fashion, and Philadelphia for music. Thanks to KK alumni such as Kieran Leary, Tenacious TATE, and yours truly (hopefully), a renaissance of reporting has taken place at Royal Avenue that should continue for years to come. It is my hope that this year's Krazy Korner Korrespondent does not ruin this great tradition or squander this opportunity. Filling the shoes of his predecessors will not be easy, but the man that has chosen to take on the near impossible task is:
T.C. Sawick.
I wish him the best of luck and impart this advice:
1.Don't screw up.
2.Comedy and Controversy come first. Then if you have time, statistics and facts.
   Fear not, Knock on Woods fans! Although I will no longer be reporting from the KK, I will be checking in with reports from around the league.